Anger in Turkey

In Istanbul and Ankara, protests erupted as soon as news of Israel’s assault on the peace flotilla broke; thousands of outraged Turks took to the streets and gathered outside the Israeli consulates. The Mavi Marmara had left Turkey with hundreds of passengers of many nationalities on board, including the famous Swedish detective storywriter, Henning Mankell. He is among those who insisted that the passengers did not have weapons, despite Israeli spokesman Mark Regev’s claim that shots were fired by activists.

In the days that followed the mood remained tense, especially after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s impassioned address to the nation in which called Israel’s actions a “bloody massacre” that violated international law. Stressing the growing rift between Israel and Turkey, Erdogan also warned that Turkey would not “sit by in silence after such events”. Turkey began lobbying UN and Nato member nations to respond to Israel. Israel, a master of state lobbying, also swiftly went to work.

While Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued the most damning statements, Erdogan’s words were more important because of the previously good relations between Turkey and Israel. Even far-right commentators agree that severing ties would leave Israel without a strategic ally in the region.

According to Ari Shavit, a columnist for the Tel Aviv daily Haaretz: “Even a child would have seen the imbalance in the risk-threat assessment in overpowering the flotilla ships. Any smart kid would understand that you don’t sacrifice what is important for what is not. But the cabinet did not understand. Under the leadership of Netanyahu, Barak and Ya’alon it came to a patently unreasonable decision. It was a decision by complete fools.”

While Syria, Germany, France and China all issued statements condemning the raid, the US remained rather quiet, with Vice President Joe Biden initially claiming that he needed to learn more before commenting. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton avoided any condemnation of Israel by stating that the events require “careful, thoughtful responses from all concerned” and reiterating US calls for an Israeli investigation, which goes against calls by other nations for an independent one.

A long emergency meeting of the UN in New York produced a carefully worded statement including commentary on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza: “The Security Council deeply regrets the loss of life and… condemns those acts which resulted in the loss of at least 10 civilians and many wounded, and expresses its condolences to their families… The Security Council stresses that the situation in Gaza is not sustainable… In that context, it reiterates its grave concern at the humanitarian situation in Gaza and stresses the need for sustained and regular flow of goods and people to Gaza, as well as unimpeded provision and distribution of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza.”

Since Israel’s assault on Gaza in December 2008, which killed more than 1,400 Palestinians in less than a month, Turkey’s relationship with Israel has deteriorated. At a discussion on Gaza in Davos shortly after Israel’s bombing campaign, Erdogan stormed off stage after Israeli president Shimon Peres and moderator David Ignatius tried to cut him off in mid-sentence. This January, Turkey’s ambassador to Israel, Ahmet Oguz Celikkol, was deliberately given a lower seating position than Israel’s deputy foreign minister during a meeting in Jerusalem. Does Erdogan’s speech on Tuesday indicate that relations have deteriorated beyond repair?

Israel’s siege of Gaza is at the heart of this story. Turkey acknowledges this. Were it not for Israel’s continued occupation of Gaza’s airspace, land and waters, imprisoning more than 1.5 million people in one of the mostly densely populated areas in the world, Israel wouldn’t have to deal with strained relations or a declining public image. As Bradley Burston, a declared Zionist, argued in a recent Haaretz blog post, Israel’s actions in Gaza since 2008 are not self-defence and its policies defeat its own security interests. “Here in Israel, we have still yet to learn the lesson: we are no longer defending Israel. We are now defending the siege. The siege itself is becoming Israel’s Vietnam.”